Franklin Pierce Downs 
Saint Rose, 61-51
Ravens limit hosts to 27.7% shooting, 
Jacobs leads way with 14 points

ALBANY, N.Y. (December 7, 2005) – Franklin Pierce collected its third-straight win with a 61-51 victory at the College of Saint Rose in Northeast-10 Conference women’s basketball action tonight at Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium.

            Senior forward Heather Jacobs (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton) led a balanced Franklin Pierce attack with 14 points, on four-of-seven shooting from the floor, to go with seven rebounds and two assists.

Junior Danielle D’Ettorre (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario/St. Mary’s) added ten points, aided by 6-of-6 shooting from the free-throw line, eight rebounds (four offensive), two assists and a block, while freshman Jennifer Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England) contributed 11 points, two assists and two steals. Senior Maria Clifton (New York, N.Y./St. Michael’s Academy) chipped in eight rebounds, while sophomore Josie Lidke (Chaska, Minn./Chaska) finished with nine points and four boards.            

Franklin Pierce limited Saint Rose to 27.7-percent (18-65) shooting from the field in the contest, including 3-of-19 (15.8%) from three-point range, while hitting 41.7% (20-48) of their shots, including 47.4% (9-19) over the final 20 minutes.

            No Saint Rose players reached double-digits as the Golden Knights were led by junior Linsey Onishuk (Hyde Park, Mass./Boston Latin Academy) with nine points, three rebounds, two assists and three steals. Junior Courtney Ludwig (Shaftsbury, Vt./Mount Anthony Union) posted eight points, while sophomore Emily Gottstein (Albany, N.Y./Holy Names) registered eight points and five rebounds (three offensive). Junior Mary Lewis (Roxbury, Mass./Tabor Academy) chipped in seven points, six boards, six assists and two steals.

            Franklin Pierce never trailed as Jacobs buried a three-pointer on the game’s first possession. The Ravens were up four (8-4) less than four minutes into the contest, but held Saint Rose scoreless for almost six minutes to build an eight point advantage (12-4) after a Heather Benton (Valley Springs, Calif./St. Mary’s) lay-up with 11:01 left in the first half.            

The Ravens used a 13-4 run over the next six minutes to open a 17-point lead (27-10) after a Stephanie Bergeron (Point Claire, Quebec/Dawson College) three-pointer. Saint Rose made a run to close the gap to ten entering halftime, capped by an Ariel Davis (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) lay-up.

            Onishuk hit a jumper for Saint Rose on the first possession of the second half to pull the Golden Knights within eight points (29-21), but Franklin Pierce used a 13-3 run to take a commanding 18 point lead (42-24) with 13:19 left and the Ravens lead was never under double-figures the rest of the way. Leedham and Lidke each canned three-pointers during the decisive run.

            Franklin Pierce converted 16-of-17 free-throw attempts for the contest, including 11-12 in the second half.

Franklin Pierce (4-3, 4-1 NE-10) is back in action on Friday at the 41^st Rotary Pocono Classic, hosted by East Stroudsburg University, and will face Saint Thomas Aquinas College at 1 p.m. Saint Rose (5-3, 2-2 NE-10) visits Le Moyne College on Saturday at 1 p.m.

BOXSCORE